Chapter 3, The road to adapt and transform cities into attractive, climate-resilient and sustainable places, describes different strategies for urban climate change adaptation (especially Table 3.1), and points to the importance of integration of climate mitigation and adaptation at city level.

Further resources:

Within the Climate-ADAPT Platform, the Urban Adaptation Support Tool (UAST) provides further insight on the reasons for cities to adapt in the first step of the adaptation cycle (“getting started”).

Moreover, the New Integrated Covenant of Mayors for Climate Change and Energy provides a global view of the need to adapt immediately to climate change and the benefits of investing in complementary mitigation-adaptation action. This can be found in the section, We, the Mayors, acknowledge that.

How do cities address climate change adaptation? How is adaptation supported at other levels and how does research contribute?

Chapter 3 describes The road to adapting and transforming cities into attractive, climate-resilient and sustainable places. In particular, the last part of this chapter is dedicated to the integration of adaptation and mitigation.

Chapter 4, Urban adaptation action to date, provides an overview of the present state of urban adaptation.

Throughout the report, a wealth of different inspiring examples for successful local action are used. Annex 1, List of cases, provides a complete list of case studies illustrated in the report.

What is necessary to ensure effective adaptation to climate change? When should cities act?

In this report:

Chapter 3, The road to adapt and transform cities into attractive, climate-resilient and sustainable places, highlights the need for innovative forms of action, especially related to cooperation, involvement and appropriate governance.

Section 5.1 of chapter 5, Governance for urban adaptation, specifically addresses the national and regional support to local action and highlights the types of support different governance levels can provide.

Chapter 3,The road to adapt and transform cities into attractive, climate-resilient and sustainable places, focusses on integrating mitigation and adaptation, and on the potential synergies between different actions and the potential of cost-effective solutions.

Section 5.4 of chapter 5, Economics of urban adaptation, provides insights into strategies and experiences for assessing the costs and benefits of adaptation options and provides an overview on funding opportunities for cities. It illustrates the advantages of a systemic approach (Box 5.33 Copenhagen, Denmark, combines incremental and transformational adaptation in a systemic approach based on an economic assessment).

With respect to the exchange of information and experience between cities, section 5.2 of chapter 5, Building the adaptation knowledge base and awareness, highlights the importance of knowledge exchange and networking between cities, showcasing the experience of Bratislava (Box 5.15 The benefits of peer learning and city networking for adaptation in Bratislava, Slovak Republic).

Section 5.5 of chapter 5, Monitoring, reporting and evaluation, describes the potential of monitoring and evaluation schemes for informing ongoing policy making and provides an overview of potential funding sources (Figure 5.9 Opportunities for financing climate change adaptation in municipalities).

All chapters of the report use a wealth of different inspiring examples of successful local action. Annex 1,List of cases, provides a complete list of case studies illustrated in the report.

Further resources:

Step 3 of the Urban Adaptation Support Tool (UAST) on the Climate-ADAPT platform, Identifying Adaptation options, provides links to a list of inspiring urban case studies showcased on Climate-ADAPT.